The Legend of Zelda: The Triumphant Return
by Soulless1
Summary: Even the greatest of heroes can fall victim to the darkness in the human heart.  Link shows just how cruel a shunned hero can be.  And life will be the price Hyrule shall pay.    Watch out for some disturbing imagery, Blood and language.


**Read this only while listening to this song: "**_**The Animal"**_** By Disturbed. I promise you that you will not regret it.  
>Link deserves the chance to prove how cruel a hero can truly be. That is, when his nation abandons him to a fate worse than death… Exile.<strong>

**After destroying Ganondorf and restoring the Light Realm and Twilight Realm to their respective proprietary positions in the cosmos, the people of Hyrule demanded his exile for his strange ability to transform into a wolf at will.  
>Queen Zelda had made little effort on his part. But that was not the blow that knocked him from the light.<strong>

**It was when his own village claimed that Link was not the boy from Ordon. They said that the real Link had been dragged off by monsters and killed. He was supposed to be an imposter created by the Twili.**

**The whole of Hyrule… Believed them.**

Anger.

The only thing I've felt for the past ten years is anger.

Eating me alive… slowly corroding my heart from within. They shunned me. They treated me no better than the lowest beast of burden.

And they will pay. Oh God will they pay.

They haven't seen anything worse than what I plan. Not even the darkest nightmares of the most blood-thirsty criminal will compare to what I have in mind.

Mark my words Hyrule.

Link's shadowy form stood upon a rocky ridge to the north of Hyrule Field.  
>His green tunic billowing in the cold night wind.<p>

A pair of blue eyes that conveyed the frozen temperatures surrounding his heart observed a pair of roan horses being led across the field below.  
>A feral grin spread across his face.<p>

_Oh my… Live prey._

"_**I can feel the Animal inside…  
>My resolve is weakening.<br>Pounding in the doors of my mind,  
>It's really overpowering.<strong>_

_**I cannot begin to describe,  
>The hunger that I feel again.<strong>_

Moving with the stealth born of many nights in the unforgiving depths of the forest, Link bounded from his perch to pounce on the unsuspecting prey.  
><em><strong><br>Run if you intend to survive…  
>For the Beast is coming to life<strong>_

_**Taking form in the glimmer of this Tainted Moonlight,  
>Death approaches,<br>ON THIS NIGHT!**_

The travelers made a terrible mistake… they stopped to rest.  
>Link used the opportunity to slip closer under the passing shade of a lone cloud high in the atmosphere. His blue eyes gleaming with stagnated hatred mingled with hunger, he leapt and grabbed the taller of the two warriors by the back of his neck. With a quick jerk of his arm, the struggling man ceased all movement. His companion drew a sword from his belt with a bellow of fear.<p>

Link grinned, his canine teeth pronounced themselves with a gleam in the dim moonlight.

_**For the Animal's Soul is mine,  
>We will make them bleed right before your eyes.<br>I have no control this time.  
>And now we both shall dine,<br>In Hell tonight.**_

The lone warrior hesitated. Worst mistake ever.  
>Growling like a rabid wolf, Link raced forward and jerked the sword from the man's grasp. Seconds later, a dismembered head rolled away into the gloom.<p>

Link's grin faded. Staring down at the decimated corpses, he recognized a pair of Royal Guards. Solely by the red and gold tunics they wore. This pair in particular deserved what they had gotten on this night.  
>They were the ones who spread the rumor of his unnatural ability through the land… They had learned of it when Link and Zelda were traversing the field towards Faron Province.<p>

_They don't even deserve to be eaten by Rocs…_ He mused. Link lazily cast an immolation spell upon the deceased pair, and watched the flames crawl into the high vaulted ceiling of the Hylian night.

_**I can feel it calling again,  
>The primal need is filling me.<br>Changes are about to begin,  
>And now my blood is boiling.<strong>_

_**I can see the fear in your eyes,  
>You can't allow yourself to scream.<br>Time is an immortal disguise,  
>For the Beast is coming to life.<strong>_

Assuming the customary position on all fours, Link tapped into the Triforce of Courage and triggered his transformation into a wolf.

His nose elongated into a snout built for catching the slightest trace of his quarry's scent.  
>His ears moved towards the top of his head and grew a fine layer of dark-grey fur.<br>A thick coat of long grey-green fur sprouted from his skin.  
>Lastly, his nails sharpened and lengthened into twin sets of finely honed scythes.<p>

_Time to give some old friends a visit… After all, I'm in the neighborhood._

His cackling laughter rang across the plain in the form of a wolf's coughing barks.

_**Taking form in the glimmer of this Tainted Moonlight,  
>Death approaches,<br>ON THIS NIGHT!**_

_**For the Animal's Soul is mine  
>We will make them bleed right before your eyes.<br>I have no control this time.  
>And now we both shall dine,<br>In Hell tonight.**_

Charging forward like an arrow from the string, he bounded towards the west. The very direction of the Castle, and his dearest friend… Zelda.

He licked his lips. Her name left a sour metallic taste on his tongue. He had fought long and hard for her and her kingdom… but, as the people had demonstrated, to no avail. His blue eyes faded to an acid yellow. There would be a reckoning on Castle Town… And he would bring it about if it took the very last rancid drop of his soul to do it.

_**We begin the Hunt tonight,  
>Till the power causes the creatures to take flight.<br>When the kill is close tonight**_

_**When you're satisfied**_

_**For the smell of fear to night,  
>Brings an ancient lust that will not be denied.<strong>_

An unfortunate Bulbin had wandered across his path, but that creature now lay several hundred yards behind in the gloom with a torn throat.

_Blasted creatures… I shall never understand why Ganondorf chose those witless wastes of flesh as foot-soldiers. Then again, I shall never understand his reasoning in the first place._ His thoughts trailed off in unfathomable directions as the bridge he had helped repair emerged from the darkness.

_Almost there. Honestly I'm amazed Zelda hasn't prepared for my visit._

He chuckled darkly and quickened his pace as his claws struck the oak bridge. The clicking of claws on wood slowed him, but not enough to impede his plans.

Tonight, before the sun rose over the far-eastern mountains… there would be a death of someone very important to the nation. And he had a funny feeling that Zelda was not the recipient of said fate.

_**YOU'RE MINE!**_

_**For the Animal's Soul is mine,  
>We will make them bleed right before your eyes.<br>I have no control this time.  
>And now we both shall dine,<br>In Hell tonight.**_

_**For the Animal's Soul is mine,  
>And the world around will never be alright.<strong>_

_**An unholy crime.  
>And now we both shall dine,<br>In Hell tonight.**_

The Eastern gate came into view across a wooden bridge. A lone guard stood next to the wrought iron gate with a spear in hand.

Link's wolfish lips drew back into a savage animalistic grin.

_Excellent… time for a little fun._


End file.
